Confessions of a Villain
by cashew
Summary: SEQUEL TO CRUEL BEAUTY It’s been five years since Virginia last saw her aunt, but when Draco goes missing she is forced to rethink her past and seek help from the one person that she truly hates.
1. Where Is The Love

Confessions of a Villain

Chapter One

Where Is The Love

Whatever happened to the values of humanity  
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality  
Instead in spreading love we're spreading animosity  
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity Black Eyed Peas

Life is short. If there is one thing that I have learned in my entire existence on this earth it is that. I have seen death, I have mourned death, and at times I have felt as though I have experienced death.

It is not a pretty thing, and not everyone dies a hero. Most fear it for they do not know when their time will come, when they will be called to leave all which they have worked for. Some go gracefully, some not. But the ending is always the same, everyone goes; everyone dies.

So I have learned that life is only getting shorter. Your time is only dwindling down until it reaches nothing. There is not time to make mistakes, only to correct them. And even though I claim that I do not fear death I cannot help but think that on some subconscious level I do.

There is a war waging outside and yet I am not participating in it. I am hiding from evils which I cannot name. I have a supposed role in the war but I've been told that it is for the better if I stay hidden, stay out of it, and stay alive.

And so, I am here in the depths of Wizarding England in a mansion with one other resident. The one that keeps me from going utterly insane from being forced to live inside of my own head; the one who has my heart.

The abovementioned walked into the room at that precise moment, interrupting my ever-changing train of thoughts.

He walked over to me and took a place beside me at the charmed window. "Virgina," he greeted.

"Draco," I acknowledged back.

"Why do you spend so much time here?" He gestured to the window and windowsill that we were both currently perched on.

I gave him a familiar cold glare, "I have to spend time somewhere."

He sighed and resumed to looking out the window. "It's not even real," he mused while appreciating the same beautiful day that was always at that particular window, curtsey of a very effective charm from the Better Wizarding Scenery Company.

"Nothing is," I responded cynically. I finally took my eyes off of the window that was no more than a life like painting and onto Draco. With one look at his solemn expression I knew. "You're leaving soon," I observed.

"At nightfall," he confirmed.

I stood up from my position on the windowsill and said nothing to him. Draco had began occasionally doing things to aid the war and the people that he once despised but lately he had been doing them a great deal more. I found myself alone with nothing but my thoughts and worries, and I hated being worried, it brought back old feelings of weakness.

"When will you return?"

He sighed and stood up as well, "Five days, a week at the most."

I turned away and began to walk out of the room, "I'll go summon some dinner."

I took about two bites from my dinner before deciding that I wasn't hungry. It took Draco one extra bite to reach the same decision. Magical food always did have a funny taste to it. However, that is what I had lived with the entire time that I had been stuck in this spot.

It was always just Draco and me, and lately because of his 'missions' it was just me. I wasn't even allowed a house elf because apparently even they were not completely loyal. All the better though, I never could stand the creatures, no matter how well they cooked.

And so we sat in silence, each staring at the food as if watching it get progressively colder were a matter of some great interest. Each avoiding the unavoidable subject at hand, Draco's departure.

Finally fed up with the detainment of the conversation I pushed my plate away and looked into his eyes. "Where are you going?"

"That is privileged information," he stated the same way that he always did.

"Where are you going Draco?" I pressed again.

"I'll be back soon Virginia," he stalled once more.

"_Where are you going_?"

"Azkaban."

And there it was. His mission that would only last a week at the most was set at Azkaban. The anger fell off of my features as I looked at him once more, "Why?"

"There is a breakout scheduled, my team is set to intercept." His gaze turned everyway besides looking at me. Even though he looked perfectly calm I knew otherwise. He had not seen his father in five years, closer to six; he had no clue as to what to expect.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, I had a bad feeling about this. "Don't go," I asked in vain.

He finally looked at me in more than shock than anything else. "You can't ask me that."

I slammed a fist down on the table in anger and noted with satisfaction that the silverware clanged together at the action. "Damn it Draco I have watched you go on these missions and tasks of yours for months now and I have said _nothing_; but I have a bad feeling about this and I am asking you not to go."

He sighed and looked away, "I have to go."

I stood up from my chair and began to walk away from him. "You do not have to go you are choosing to go. Let someone else do it, I don't know why you are being Dumbledore's lackey here you don't even like the man."

"I'm not doing it for him," he said simply, "I'm doing it for you. I told you that a breakout is set and whom do you think is breaking out? I know that prison and your aunt better than anyone else that they have, if I don't go she gets out. And who do you think will be the first person that she will pay a visit to?"

I turned around so I was facing him and took a few steps toward his chair. "You know that if you go with their little group of 'soldiers' that they are only going to get you killed. Go if you must but please don't be one of _them_."

"Who would you rather me be Virginia, one of the death eaters?"

"No," I said slowly, "we aren't a part of either side, remember? It's only me and you and we do what's best for us, my God we aren't Gryffindors."

He smiled and stood up as well, "Yes, well, unfortunately sometimes we are forced to take sides and this is what's best for us. If I don't go with them then I go alone and I have to say that is far worse."

"Then go with me."

He quickly stopped smiling, "You can't go, Virginia, you know this."

I gave a frustrated sigh and looked away, "Yes, Draco, I know that better than anyone. My duty in this war is to sit here and slowly wait for old age to kill me because God knows that you won't let anything else. Forget the prophecy that was made about me having any actual part in this battle, lets just leave me here to rot alone."

He rolled his eyes and walked towards me, "Don't be all dramatic, everything will be fine."

And so despite my feelings on the situation I let him go. I sat there and watched him walk out the front door, go the standard twenty feet and apparate to some unknown area where he would meet his team and be briefed. And I sat, alone yet again, to wait, either for him to come back or for news that something had gone horribly wrong.

Either way, that was all that I could do, wait.


	2. Freebird

Confessions of a Villain

Chapter Two

Freebird

If I leave here tomorrow  
Would you still remember me?  
For I must be traveling on, now,  
'cause there's too many places I've got to see. Lynyrd Skynyrd

Once I was alone I felt my mind wander to more pleasant thoughts than the ones that were happening at the time. I thought of the first time in my life that I felt truly free, the first time that Draco and I…ahem, did private things.

But as I felt a smile come to my face I immediately stopped thinking and scolded myself. I hated thinking about 'happy' memories. It made me feel like one of those overemotional people that are just so damn happy all of the time that you want to kick them. You know, one of those woman who will cry when she sees a baby bunny frolicking along with it's mother because it's all just so beautiful. I do hope that someone will just put me out of my misery if I ever become on of those people.

Revenge and hate is much better to focus on, the things that will bring a scowl to your face. Yes, that is how I should be acting right now, angry and ready to kill. Not happy remembering tender moments and all that.

With a sigh of frustration I realized that I didn't want to be all cruel and cold, I was sad. And damn it, I was never sad.

He left me.

I asked him not to go and I never asked him for anything. He just said no without even considering me. Didn't he know how hard it was for me to swallow my pride and ask anyone for anything?

I sat down in front of the blazing fire and briefly recalled all of the nights at Hogwarts that we had spent in our chairs in front of the fire in the Slytherin common room. Finally fed up with being left and forgotten I got up and pulled my wand out of my robes, pointing it at the door.

They had put every charm imaginable on this house in attempts to keep me in it, but I knew there had to be something that was overlooked, there had to be someway out of this prison.

I shot a dozen spells in a dozen different directions and saw with contempt that they didn't even make a dent. I gave a groan and threw myself ungracefully onto a sofa, I wasn't Velena, I wasn't some criminal, so why was I being treated as such?

As I was taking a rare moment to wallow in self pity a sharp rapping came at the front door. I quickly sat up and felt my heartbeat begin to race, no one ever came here besides Draco and he would never knock. Images of Velena flew through my mind and the curse of being a poetry lover came back to haunt me.

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,  
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;  
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,  
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,  
That I scarce was sure I heard you"— here I opened wide the door;—  
Darkness there, and nothing more

I closed my eyes and attempted to reason and rationalize my thoughts, it wasn't Velena and it wasn't some raven that was brought on by my own insanity and loneliness; it was just the wind.

I slowly made my way to the door, but not before picking my wand up on the way, when a loud knock came once again. Knowing that it was not the wind nor my imagination I hastened my pace to the door and bravely threw it wide open; Velena would never have bothered to knock anyway.

"Dumbledore," I asked incredulously, "what are you doing here?"

Without any greeting he stepped into the house and I unconsciously shut the door behind him, I hadn't seen Albus Dumbledore since he locked me in this house and I had serious reservations that he would just show up for a social call being that we didn't exactly see eye to eye on…anything.

So living up to the intelligence that had always been expected of me I quickly put two and two together. "What happened?"

"Would you care for something to drink Virginia," he asked in an obvious attempt to stall.

"This is my home," I said coldly, "if I wanted something to drink I would bloody well get it for myself. Now cut the bullshit Dumbledore and tell me what happened and where he is."

My former headmaster let out a sigh and looked distressed, "he's alive," he offered.

"Terrific, he was that when I saw him last. Do you know where he is?"

"Young Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said in a grave tone, "committed a courageous and wonderful act for the Wizarding world this evening and I would like to commend you on having such a fine young gentleman-"

"You have absolutely no _clue_ as to where he is do you?" I interrupted venomously.

"He was called for a mission, he accepted it knowing full well the extent of the dangers involved. I'm deeply sorry that he did not make it back but I do know for sure that he is alive and he managed to secure the mission in his sacrifice."

He managed to secure the mission in his sacrifice. Reading between the lines I gathered that Lucius and Velena were still in Azkaban, thoughts of escape regrouping.

"Right then," I said slowly as I began to leave the room, "I'm going after him."

"You will do nothing of the sort," Dumbledore said sternly, "in case you have forgotten Virginia you are not able to leave this house; that is not going to change just because Mr. Malfoy is missing."

"Yes," I said while a malicious smile came to my face, "but you can let me out." Before my words could even process to Dumbledore I was on him like a cat would pounce on a mouse, my wand drawn against his throat in a threatening manner. "You will let me out of this prison," I said in a dangerously low voice, "or I swear that I will kill you. And don't think that I won't either, I've never been particularly fond of you, I daresay that I would even find some amount of pleasure in it."

"If you go after him," Dumbledore croaked out, "you would put yourself in danger. Your survival is essential to the light, I cannot in good conscience allow you to jeopardize the future of millions."

I raised my eyebrows in challenge and did nothing to release him from his present situation. "If you don't free me I'll find some way to join the dark, I'll help them instead of you. I'm sure that if I agreed to help Voldemort he would gladly hand over Draco."

As his face fell I knew that I had won and took my wand away from a threatening stance but never took it off of him; never give your opponents the opportunity to gain the upper hand in a situation.

He took out his own wand and to my questioning gaze said, "I must use my wand to take the charms off Virginia."

With one look I let him know that I did not trust him, but simply said, "proceed then."

Dumbledore took a second look at my wand before chanting various incantations and taking all the protective spells off of the residence, giving me the ability to leave. He gestured me to the door and I willed myself to show no emotion as I followed him.

This was it. After years trapped in here with no one but Draco I was being freed. I felt my heartbeat picking up as Dumbledore opened the door and I stepped through it with a strong sense of exhilaration racing through me.

I stepped out of the house and as soon as I breathed in the air I knew that there was no way that I would ever go back in.

It always confused me at just why Dumbledore let me out of the house if my survival was so essential. I wasn't ignorant to the fact that he could have easily overpowered me with his magic if he had wanted to. He could have forced me to stay there, I never really had complete control of the situation.

He had a very distinct choice that had to be made and in the end, he let me go.

Dumbledore offered me a small smile, "always remember Virginia that dark as it may be the past is what completes us. Search within history to find the answers you seek, for it is the mistakes of the past that you will find the hope for the future. I cannot help you in your quest, but I advise you to heed my words to you and never be completely sure of anything. Good luck to you Virginia."

And with that he left me alone and very confused.

I wandered around for a while just observing the wide open areas and appreciating the things that I had always taken for granted before

After having my fill of the luxury of being outside I took out my wand and prepared to apparate, except I had one problem. I had no clue where to go or how to even start my search.

The only thing that I knew was that sometime between Azkaban and getting out Draco was found by someone and captured. Dumbledore was at the best sense of the situation of little help; I quickly marked it off as he didn't know anything about the capture and didn't wish to make it obvious.

Finally with a click of my tongue I pointed my wand at myself and with a loud pop I was off to my determined destination; Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. If I was going to try and get information out of anyone I couldn't very well do it looking like myself, and if anyone could help me fool other people it was my…brothers.


	3. Dream On

Confessions of a Villain

A/NThis story willnow be going through the inter workings of Draco Malfoy's mind for the next few chapters…so if you aren't completely clear on this fact THIS CHAPTER IS IN DRACO'S POINT OF VIEW.

Chapter Three

Dream On

I know what nobody knows  
Where it comes and where it goes  
I know it's everybody's sin  
You got to lose to know how to win Aerosmith

Pain was currently overtaking my body. As I drifted back into consciousness I immediately wished that I was still in a coma like state for every part of me hurt like hell.

I stifled a groan as I sat up trying desperately to figure out where I was. I was…I didn't know. The only thing that I _did _know at the moment was that my head felt as though it had been spilt in two and…there was something wrong with my hands.

I looked down at them incredulously as if searching for some sort of flaw. They _looked _like normal hands, but it was like they didn't feel right. And come to think of it, the upper part of my legs didn't feel right either.

I absentmindedly slapped my right leg trying to figure out what was wrong. It didn't hurt, nor did my hands, so they weren't injured in any way, but something was just-

I heard a noise in the distance and was on my feet in an instant. Ignoring the pain I stumbled to a nearby corridor still irked that I had no clue as to where I was. I searched my clothing in vain for my wand, it was no where to be found.

A scowl came to my face, but I knew that I shouldn't really be that surprised, I was obviously captured and only an idiot would capture someone and leave them the use of their wand.

What had happened?

The last thing that I could remember was…darkness. A gloomy place…falling…coldness…death. A panic swept through me; was I dead? Was that a possibility? Someone was going to _pay _if they killed me.

Suddenly ashamed of my cowardice of hiding in a corridor I stepped out of the shadows. I was Draco Malfoy, ancestor to one of the greatest families the wizarding nation had ever seen; let them come and do their worst.

Besides, if I was in fact dead, how bad could their worst be?

"I'm right here," I challenged in a collected voice, "you may have my wand but I have no doubt in the fact that I can still best you without it."

"Are you quite sure about that Draco?"

My eyes instinctively darted around until they came to rest on the tall dark figure who had spoken the words. I felt my pulse quicken and tried desperately to keep my appearance aloof as I stared at the man who I assumed was responsible for bringing me here.

"Hello father," I greeted with more coolness than I felt.

"I'm sorry you must be mistaken," he said in his usual cruel drawl, "for I have no son."

I suppressed the extreme urge to roll my eyes as he spoke to me and lowered his hood to reveal an appearance that was not that unlike my own. "Forgive me Lucius," I said without feeling, "it seems to have slipped my mind that you were no longer claiming me. You have to understand that it was rather difficult to hear your disownment, being that you were imprisoned and all…come to think of it, aren't you supposed to still be serving out your life term?"

"You dare to admit that you were the one to condemn me to a life with dementors," my father said icily as I had to keep myself in check so not to fall back into my usual old ways of silently fearing him; I feared no one now.

"I would have thought that it would have been painfully obvious," I drawled with the sneer that I had learned from him, "since you were there when I testified against you. Azkaban has truly done nothing for your memory _father_."

"Indeed," he responded while moving towards me and gracefully pulling his wand out of his robes. "But you will find Draco," he stated with ease, "that some things are not as they appear to be."

Not wanting to give into his amusement and go along with his little game I gave a hard look, "just what is that supposed to mean?"

He merely smiled, "I think that you know." And he then disappeared without the use of his wand or any other outside source. My eyes quickly darted around in confusion, he hadn't used magic, I was sure of it…so how did he just disappear?

I shook my head and decided that I didn't care, I had to find a way out of here, my father and his games could be damned.

I looked at the wide variety of hallways to choose from and randomly choose one. The chosen path that I was on turned out to be dark, dreary, and bleak; everything that I would expect from someplace that my father would imprison me in.

I had no doubt that all of this was somehow his doing. Only he would find it amusing to leave the captured to roam free, searching for a way out. He most likely was somewhere watching, hoping that I would fall into on of his traps so I could surly die a slow and painful death…no one ever said that he wasn't a sick son of a bitch.

"Malfoy!" I heard hissed loudly. I whipped around quickly and saw…Potter?

"What the hell are you doing here," I said bluntly.

"You should know," he said with a glare, "I'm sure that it was _you _that probably brought me here."

I felt the customary glare come to my face as it did each and every time that I was forced to deal with Harry Potter. I took my eyes away from him and felt my hands go up to my temples, attempting to rub away the confusion. I was in some sort of…place that my father had put together and brought me to. And now the bloody boy who lived was here as well. Great, my day just kept getting better and better. The only thing that could complete it now would be sticking some werewolves into the twisted tale.

"I didn't bring you here," I finally spat out, "but since you are here you might as well make yourself useful Potter, find a way out."

He shook his head in disbelief, "sure anything you want _master_ Malfoy."

"Sarcasm will get you nowhere Potter," I drawled and suddenly felt like I was still in school, picking childish fights with the Gryffindors. I sighed deeply and wondered why my father would have brought Potter into all of this. Granted, he didn't like the boy (in reality, who did?) but what benefit would come to him by trapping him in here.

Suddenly it occurred to me that Potter had had several encounters with evil and danger and all that and had somehow managed to escape relatively unscathed. Yes, this could work in my favor after all, Potter had more dumb luck with these sort of situations than anyone that I knew. He was better than a bloody four leaf clover.

"All right then Potter, since we are both obviously trapped here why don't we find a way out?"

"And exactly why should I trust you?" I saw him make a move for his wand and lazily rolled my eyes.

"Good one Potter, did you really think that someone like my father would not think to take your wand from you?"

His face clearly betrayed his confusion and he seemed to temporarily forget that he was supposed to be making irrational accusations about me. "Your father," he said in an incredulous tone, "but he's in Azkaban."

"Well," I said irritably, "apparently not anymore." Not giving him an opportunity to ask questions that I didn't have answers to I quickly began to add, "so just how did you get here Potter? Is there a big neon green sign flashing _evil lair here_?"

"No," he snarled, "how do you think I got here Malfoy? I was kidnapped."

Feeling as though I was speaking to a child I started to speak in a condescending tone, "what is the last thing you remember before coming here, where were you before you ran into me?"

His eyes cast down to the floor and he looked somewhat embarrassed, "I was…asleep. I woke up and I was here feeling like death warmed over. I got up and started to walk and then I met you. How did you get here?"

"Somewhat the same way," I said not wanting to give anything away. I still couldn't recall what had happened to me; I didn't need Potter to know that. "Look," I said taking charge, "lets just keep moving, it's best not to stay in the same spot too long."

And so, I wandered around with Potter and quickly decided that this could be marked down as one of the top ten weirdest experiences I had ever had.


	4. Perfect

Confessions of a Villain

Chapter Four

Perfect

Hey Dad look at me  
Think back and talk to me  
Did I grow up according to plan?  
Do you think I'm wasting  
My time doing things I want to do?

I try not to think  
About the pain I feel inside  
Did you know you used to be  
My hero? Simple Plan

"Do you have any _clue _as to where you are going?"

I shot Potter an irritated look despite the fact that he had made a valid point. I was pretty sure that we had walked past the same statue three times.

"I, unlike you, actually have a sense of direction Potter. Just because there isn't some shortcut to take doesn't mean that we aren't going in the right direction. Or, if you would rather I suppose that you could just find your own way out of here." I smirked at his silence to the question, "that's what I thought. So shut-up and fall in line."

"Fall in line," he mumbled under his breath; "because there's just so many of us in this group, we do want everything orderly now."

The corners of my mouth twisted upwards to indicate my amusement as I continued walking. "Well Potter I was just attempting to compensate for your imaginary friends back there, I wouldn't want them all running around in chaos now."

He gave a very pathetic noise that sounded like a laugh that he had started but had been quickly silenced. He wouldn't want to start laughing at the enemy's jokes now.

"So Malfoy," he said in a lazy tone, "with your wonderful sense of direction and all could you please explain to me why we are going _up_?"

"What the hell are you talking about Potter?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed towards an empty space on the wall, "I've been looking out every window that we've passed and we are definitely moving upwards."

"Windows?" I said incredulously as I instinctively turned my head around searching for the item in question. Seeing none I narrowed my eyes in an accusatory manner, "Potter, there are no windows anywhere in here."

He opened his mouth once, closed it, and then repeated the actions. "What do you mean?" He stormed over to the wall and slammed his fist into it, "there is a window _right here_ it's the thing that I have my hand sticking out of!"

I shook my head; the boy had clearly lost it. It was a shame too; I was in no mood to deal with the insane. "Potter," I said very slowly, "there is no window there, nor have we yet to pass one. There is just a stone wall, you have your hand resting on a _wall_, there is no window."

"But-"

"No!"

"Don't you-"

"There's nothing there!"

His face fell for a moment and he looked completely lost. His hand went towards his chin and he began to rub it in thought. "You only see a wall here?" Seething, I nodded my head, not feeling up to explaining it to him again. "Hmm, that is strange."

"The only thing strange here is you Potter. Now, if you're finished trying to morph the wall into things can we get a move on?"

He nodded slowly and started to walk away from the wall, "whatever you say Malfoy."

"That bloody scar must be seeping into your brain and causing you to become disillusioned Potter." He flashed an extremely fake smile, I scowled, and we continued on our merry way.

After about five minutes Potter became obviously agitated by the silence that I was more than happy to give.

"So Malfoy," he began in a conversational tone, "how's Virginia?"

"Why would you assume that I would know?"

He narrowed his eyes and I got a childish satisfaction of knowing that I had annoyed him. "Because you've lived with her for like the past three years."

I shrugged my shoulders; "I lived with my father for more than fifteen years and didn't know jack shit about him. Never assume anything Potter."

"God," he said exasperated, "do you have to make everything so difficult! I was just attempting to be nice and make small talk so we don't have to walk in an eerie silence."

"Well I happen to like walking in an 'eerie' silence," I said defiantly.

"Fine then, I won't talk anymore."

"Fine."

Ten minutes later

"Seriously, how is Virginia?"

I turned around with a hard look, "I know that being in that simple mind of yours the concept of being _quiet _may be difficult to grasp, but please do exert some sort of effort."

He bit his lip for a moment and then ran a hand through that god-awful hair of his. I unconsciously winced while looking at his hair, would it kill him to brush it once in a while?

"You're avoiding the question Malfoy," he finally said decisively.

"Acute observations as always Potter," I said resorting to my usual dry sarcastic wit. "She's trapped inside a prison that's disguised as a house Potter, how would you be?"

"Is she _still _angry about that?"

I snapped my head around quickly and when I saw that he was asking an earnest question simply shook it in disbelief. "You should really win some kind of award for your amazing sensitivity Potter. I'm sure that you would be more than happy to sacrifice your every freedom and fighting rights so that you could be kept alive for the 'cause.'"

"If it meant for the good of everyone I wouldn't mind in the least. If it was either my freedom or the lives of innocent people I would choose to make that small sacrifice anytime."

I repressed a snort at his statement. His past had an extreme way of disproving his noble comments. "Actions speak louder scarface."

With that understood he dropped the subject at hand…well, not _completely_. "But other than that, she's all right then?"

"She's absolutely bloody peachy."

"Malfoy," he asked, not picking up on my extreme irritation, "do you love her, despite all that's happened?"

I stopped dead in my tracks as surprise swept over me; I hadn't been expecting that one. Not wanting to let him pick up on my nervousness on the question I quickly said, "Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds."

His face clearly showed his blunt confusion. "_What_?"

I shook my head yet again, "Shakespeare Potter, perhaps you've heard of him?"

"Isn't he a muggle though?"

"That doesn't make the words any less true."

This time, he shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd quote a muggle."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you lived up to the stupidity that I always expected of you." He returned my glare and finally granted my wish as we continued on in silence.

We walked for what seemed to be about an hour before I realized that I couldn't be more confused about the situation if I tried. We had been walking for hours and yet we had taken no stairs and the path didn't seem to be slanted in any way.

The only thing that came to mind was that it was a large circle and we were just going around and around. If that were the case I would feel very _very_ stupid.

"Malfoy I _know _that we've went past that painting at least five times now."

I glared at the painting in question, a man that looked strangely like my father-and therefore me-triumphantly holding up the head of a…house elf? I squinted, now genuinely curious about the painting; it _was _a house elf's head! How very strange, not to mention mortifying; a Malfoy would never touch a house elf.

"Malfoy!"

I jerked back to reality and took my eyes off the picture. "My father happens to like that painting, it's no surprise that he would place them all over." An extremely blunt lie, but it's not like I'm going to let the likes of Potter accuse me of literally walking in circles.

He tapped his foot impatiently and from the look on his face I could quickly decipher that he didn't buy my bluff. "While it is a lovely painting and so very fitting for you family, I would just like to say that I think that you have no clue how to get out of here and we are no closer to leaving than we were three hours ago!" He let out a large sigh and I tried not to allow my impression show that he had managed to say all of that in one breath.

With a deciding sigh I let go of my bluff. "Fine Potter, I have no idea where we are."

His reaction was not one that I had expected at in the least. His eyes squinted together closely before opening widely and a vein located in his neck was popping out in an amusing fashion. "Do you mean to tell me," he said in a slow dark tone, "that you don't know where we are?"

"Isn't that what you just told _me _a second ago Potter?"

"You mean that you got us lost!" I made no attempt to hide the fact that I thought this was an idiotic comment. Obviously we were lost, he had just called me on that like two minutes ago.

"If you want me to mollycoddle you and tell you that I know exactly where we are then fine, I'll do that. But if you want the truth Potter, it's that I don't know anymore about this place than you do." He looked less angry, but still childishly upset.

"I thought that you knew how to get out of here Malfoy," he said, grasping at straws, as he obviously wasn't ready to admit defeat.

I shrugged and decided that telling him the truth was much more fun that leading him in circles. "So I lied."

He shook his head angrily and attempted to string together a coherent sentence. "You are such a…Slytherin."

"Ouch Potter," I said dryly, "watch tossing around insults like that, someone's likely to get hurt."

He glared, I glared, and then I sat down. I wasn't about to walk around that damn circle thing again.


	5. Come As You Are

Confessions of a Villain

Rating: PG-13

Summery: *Sequel to Cruel Beauty* It's been five years since Virginia last saw her aunt, but when Draco goes missing she is forced to rethink her past and seek help from the one person that she truly hates.

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own

A/N Hmm, not really much to say. Sorry for the wait, here's the next chapter, and we're back to Virginia's viewpoint. Oh, and the song for the chapter is dedicated to someone *cough* Crystal *cough* who has yet to like one song that I've picked out, so here you go, my favorite Nirvana song (and yes, I've been a Nirvana fan since my cousin gave me Nevermind in first grade) and if you don't like this one then there is just no pleasing you, lol.

Oh, and so that you don't start off confused right off the bat, when we last saw Virginia she was preparing to go visit Fred and George so she could get something to change her appearance…well that didn't exactly work out as she planned.

Chapter Five

Come As You Are

__

Come, as you are. As you were.   
As I want you to be. As a friend.   
As a friend. As an old enemy. Take your time.   
Hurry up. The choice is yours. Don't be late.   
Take a rest. As a friend. As an old memory. Nirvana

"Did you really think that you would get away with it, that I wouldn't find out?"

I looked up at Bill with annoyance evident in my expression. "Well, it would be fairly stupid to say yes now."

He tapped his foot and resumed to the pacing mode that he had been in for the past fifteen minutes. Every so often he would turn towards me, shake his head in disbelief, and turn away again.

"Bill come on, you couldn't have really expected me to stay there forever."

He turned towards me once more, "I'm your guardian, I can do as I please."

"My last guardian wound up in Azkaban, sure that you want the title? Besides, I'm not a minor so therefore I am not in need of a guardian."

"You don't need a guardian," he repeated in a question form. "Only responsible adults do not require legal guardians, and you are obviously not that if you foolish enough to leave your protection!"

I rolled my eyes and allowed him to continue on his rant for a few more minutes before promptly telling him that I would curse him into the afterlife if he didn't just let it go. "Bill," I said in a mollifying tone, "there is really nothing that you can do about this. I'm out, I am _not _going back and that's the end of it."

He gave a half-hearted glare before sitting down next to me at the old couch that by miracle had held up for god knows how many years at the Burrow. "You know that I just worry about you, right?" I nodded and decided it would be best to just let him finish than interrupting with one of my famous comments. "For so long I wasn't able to do anything about my worrying, you were completely out of my control and my grasp. So if I seem overbearing now, it's only because I'm making up for the times when you were hurting and no one was there to protect you."

I looked away from him, saying nothing. He knew that I didn't react well to sappy confessions of brotherly love. I appreciated it, don't get me wrong, I just…don't know how to take it. Velena's first reaction would be to openly start laughing.

Bill smiled as to break the heavy tension and childishly ruffled my hair, "now, I know that you're an intelligent girl Virginia. So, why on earth would you have gone to see Fred and George? You know they can't keep a secret to save their lives…well that is any secret not about themselves."

"So," I said with a strained smile, "done with the lecture yet?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I told you that leaving was a stupid thing to do?"

"Yes," I answered obediently, "that was right before I told you to go hang yourself."

He nodded in remembrance, "well it seems that I've covered all bases, so yes, the lecture is now complete." There was an awkward sort of pause for a moment before he decisively smiled at me, "so," he said with a great deal of apprehension, "how are you?"

I flickered my eyes up towards him, "how do you think I am?"

"I know how you are. I've been there Virginia, it's hard, but it'll get better."

I sighed and looked away; I hated how whenever you have any sort of traumatic event there will always undoubtedly be someone around whom has 'been there.' Like it makes you feel oh so much better to know that someone else is deluding themselves into feeling what you feel; like they could possibly even comprehend the depths of my feelings…I shook myself of my bitter line of thoughts, I had been making a conscience effort to not seem so drab and pessimistic, but it was difficult sometimes.

Bill had misinterpreted my inner thoughts of animosity as a form of sadness of my recent 'loss' of Draco. "I'm sure that he's fine, he knows how to take care of himself. I know that for a fact." He said in a soothing manner.

"And how do you know that," I pressed, pleased with my given opportunity, "did you go with him on any of those assignments that I wasn't supposed to know about?"

He opened his mouth once before shutting it again. He carefully planned out his words before slowly saying to me, "that is neither here nor there Virginia. What matters is that he is experienced in the fields of…dangerous matters, and I rest in the assurance that he will be fine."

"Well I'm glad that you can rest in that assurance," the strained smile returned, "that is a pleasantry that I do not know of at the moment."

"You always seem to find a way to get the information that you want," Bill observed. "Fine. Yes I did serve with him a few times, I can't tell you where but I can tell you that the night that he disappeared he was in," he leaned in closely as if spies were around and said in a soft tone, "Azkaban."

Well, that certainly helped a lot. I gave Bill a judgmental glance before displaying a fake amount of gratitude for the information and berating myself mentally, I should have known better than to ask Bill; Charlie always was quicker to let things slip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Bill attempted to make the Burrow the new backdrop for my prison but I managed to slip away before that could happen. Obviously, I had been ratted out and caught in my scheme to disguise myself. Bill was had made a few valid points though, I should have never went to Fred and George.

One good thing did come out of it though; I managed to get one of their latest products. Titled _An Ugly Person's Dream Come True _their liquid transformer makes you into the exact opposite in appearances of what you were, therefore making you completely indistinguishable to those who know you. Appropriately titled, in my opinion.

I slipped the bottle into a pocket of my robe; I would get to that later. In the meantime, I apparently had someone to meet. After Bill had gotten through with his 'talk' I saw Charlie again for the first time in a long time. It was a sappy reunion, but not one that I regretted in the least. I had still yet to see Percy and Ron but I was sure that I would see from them and their very own advice and lectures in due time.

Charlie had informed me that for the past month someone had been sending owls everyday addressed to me. I could easily infer that he was reluctant to relay this information, as he wasn't sure if it was someone with hostile intentions or not. Charlie, not being the type to snoop through someone's mail, did not read the letters but did feel the need to express his belief that if the person wanted to meet with me, I should desist in their request.

Naturally, I am not one to desist in anything. They did want to meet with me, and even though I had no clue as to who 'they' were I figured that it was most likely someone with information that they wished to pass on to me. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence after word had gotten out about me going against Velena, people seemed to perceive me as someone who wanted to help civilization and wasted no time relinquishing their woes and wishes for my help.

Under normal circumstances I would shrug off most pleas, I was no savior, nor would I ever pretend to be such. However, these were not normal times and this information may very be something that proves to be extremely useful to me. So I went to their disclosed location to meet the mysterious individual, knowing full well that if they did want me to meet them for the sole purpose of harming me I could best them in a dual no matter who it was.

My suspicious eyes darted around the area; it was a dark place that did not seem friendly in the slightest. I had come here by their directions and found the place to be somewhat of a forest blanketed with a sinking feeling of impending doom. In short, it was my kind of place.

I turned my head around and looked for possible signs of life. Upon seeing none I contemplated calling out to see if I received a response but quickly decided negatively, I refused to yell at nothing, that would just be silly. So I patiently waited and constantly looked around, not wanting to be taken by surprise. As I was doing one of my many scans of the area I felt an ice cold touch near my shoulder. Suppressing the urge to jump out of fright and shiver at the bitter contact I turned around expecting to face something evil and ugly beyond belief…well I couldn't vouch for the former, but the latter was way off.

There before me was a handsome young man with friendly features and trusting bright blue eyes. He offered me an attractive smile that I did not return, I wasn't a friendly person by nature, this was not something subject to change.

"Hello Virginia, thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me."

"Yes," I responded coldly, "the intelligence in that decision remains to be seen though."

"I assure you," he said in a seemingly earnest voice, "I have nothing but honorable intentions. I only want to help reunite you with the one whom you are searching for."

Alarms in my mind immediately began to go off. He had been sending letters requesting my presence at a meeting with him for over a month, Draco hadn't even been missing for two days. "Funny," I said, making sure to guard my suspicions, "I don't recall losing anyone. I am normally very careful when it comes to remembering where I placed people…though there was that one boyfriend of mine that I left in a store once. To be fair though I did remember about him a few days later and when I found him again very minimal bodily damage was done."

His face betrayed no reaction, which I could respect; most people would be giving me incredulous looks by now and slowly backing away. "So you are not in search of one Draco Malfoy than?"

"What if I was? What have you to say on the subject?" There was his window of opportunity; I was fairly interested to see what he would do with it.

"I will lead you straight to him, all you have to do is ask."

__

All you have to do is ask. Why did that seem so eerily familiar to me? I repeated it several times in my head before it clicked and I let out a gasp before I could stop myself. "I know who you are," I stated with conviction, "nice try though."

He gave a small smile, "does it really make a difference if you know who I am? It only causes you to walk into this with your eyes wide open instead of blinded by your own stroke of luck; either way you still walk into it."

"And what makes you think that I will walk into your trap at all?" He smiled mysteriously but offered no explanation. I regarded him with a great amount of suspicion while my mind processed all this new information. The man before me, if you could call him that, was the one who is simply known as "The Riddler."

He was the example that most parents used when it came to teaching their children to not trust strangers. He would give you the world, only to take it away on a technicality; that was the most famous saying about him. He granted your fondest wish but not without a price. And that price was normally in some form of irony that would lead you to despise that which you had wished for.

For instance, one man wished to be head of a successful company. He was granted this request and the company was immensely successful…for about one day until it burned to the ground by a freak fire accident and was never rebuilt.

I smiled at him for the first time of our meeting, "exactly how stupid do you think I am? I am not about to make a deal with the equivalent of the devil."

"I understand that I have somewhat of a reputation," he said soothingly, "but I genuinely only wish to assist you in your task to seek out the one which you love. I will not double-cross you."

I merely raised an eyebrow. "Do not trifle with me, I am a Riddle myself and I would not suggest it wise for you to attempt to persuade me into dealing with you, it will not work."

"My powers are more limited than some would think Virginia. The only thing I am allowed is to play on words. Be extremely specific and you will find this experience to be quite beneficial and pleasant."

I knew that he was not allowed to lie about his powers, and he was right, if I could make sure my request had absolutely no loopholes I didn't see how it could be a bad thing. In an unusual burst of impulsion I made my request, "lead me to the Draco Malfoy which I am seeking and allow there to be not unwanted repercussions for this favor which you bestow upon me."

He smiled widely at the words and I immediately winced in regret, perhaps this wasn't as thought out as I had planned. He pulled something from his robes that I couldn't make out and simply stated, "As you wish."

Then my world went black, and well, it all pretty much shot to hell from there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Wow, a semi-long chapter (for me anyway) _and _a cliffhanger. Lady luck is on my side tonight. And yes, I am well aware of the fact that most of you find me strange for the previous two sentences. Make guesses if you wish to where you think Virginia will end up, and no, it's not going to be the same place where Draco is, I'll tell you that right now. Come on, I can't make it that easy. I'll _try _to update soon but life and school get in the way sometimes. Reviews help though…and yes, that was a shameless hint, lol.

Thanks to:

****

Kinky Kiwi (Yes, I know Harry sticking his arm out non-existent windows was a tad on the strange side, I promise it will all come together at some point though. No promises when that some point will be, lol. Next chapter is Virginia again and then we return to Draco.), **RonandHerm4eva **(Glad you thought the last chapter was humorous, I'm trying to fit some in before the drama completely takes over, lol. Thanks for saying that Draco and Harry were in character, I appreciate it! And I'm actually not really sure what I'm going to do with Harry being concerned about Virginia, lol, any ideas on where to go with that?), **Lady Coia **(Lol, I'm rather enjoyed the window thing myself, it's exactly the sort of messed up thing that keeps my interest in the story. It does mean something, and you'll find that out later. Here's a hint, perception is a major part of it.), **Aibi **(I feel your pain! My English class is doing Macbeth right now too. I can appreciate Shakespeare, I like his sonnets, but Macbeth is just getting on my damn nerves! My only consolation is that I know he is going to die soon, lol.), **frananddragon **(Glad that you were enjoying Draco's bitter sarcastic remarks. Lol, I swear he is the male version of me, my friends always get on me for constantly making pessimistic 'downer' remarks. And yes the windows thing is important, keep it in mind!), **Jersey Pike **(I don't know, I think it's in the guy's rule of conduct or something like that, "thou shall not admit thou is lost until too damn late." Yeah, we had midterms last week too, *enter sarcasm here* they were a lot of fun.), **Wizzabee** (Good, I'm glad that you're enjoying the point of view switch! I always enjoy irony, so we should be seeing a lot of it with them searching for each other. And it's about to get very interesting in that search starting next chapter.), **Enchanted Spirit **(Lol, you're closer on your guess than anyone else has been. Always feel free to continue to give me ideas, lord knows I am always in need of inspiration and motivation, lol.), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Aw, thanks so much for saying that Draco is in character! As I love and admire your Draco so much, it means a lot to me! I hope that you update again soon!), **Emerald Jersey, Crystal Megan, or whatever the hell your name is this week **(I picked a rock song just for you! And I know that you probably care so much, lol. And I swear that I am getting to the first chapter of your story, but I kind of had a five page paper that was due today that I didn't even start on till two days ago…so yeah, I haven't had much time to do really anything besides that. I hope that you get to go to the school that you want and thanks so much for the long review again, much appreciated! I'll be e-mailing you sometime soon!)


	6. Hear My Cry

Confessions of a Villain

Chapter Six

Hear My Cry

I awoke from the darkness in a strangely calm state. Lurking in the depths of my mind I knew that I shouldn't be calm, I should be in a near panic…and yet, I could not bring myself to this predicament.

My eyes fluttered open with anticipated pain, but found only comfort. I could not remember what had happened, only that I had passed out. How horribly embarrassing to fall unconscious like that anyway. I sincerely hoped that no one saw me.

Becoming more familiar with my surroundings I discovered that I was in a bed that I did not recognize. Knowing that I did not very well place myself in it I peered around the bedroom. Funnily enough it almost looked like Malfoy Manner. But that wasn't even plausible…Draco's old home had been shut down years ago. Even if by chance I were at Malfoy Manner it wouldn't look like this. No one had been living in it for years now; it wouldn't be furnished and clean like this. Yet still…

No place on this Earth is quite like that particular residence. One's frame of mind simply had a way of changing when there. The ancient architecture of the building was a marvelous thing in itself, something to be envied by any who knew of structures and the beauty that can lie in a building. If you couldn't appreciate these things, or even if you could, there was something about the house that just grabbed a hold of you…something that had the quality to scare the living daylights out of you and pacify you at the same time. It was a contradiction, it was living history, it was an inexplicable wonder. It was something that had been attempted to be duplicated by thousands of others, but they couldn't ever find the right…ingredients to make it whole. I knew that I was there now, because like I said, it couldn't be duplicated, and I could feel the magic of the house weaving through my very being.

Stumbling in an uncharacteristically ungraceful manner I left the confined chambers of my mysterious residence. Once in the hall I caught sight of myself in a passing mirror and walked towards my own reflection. I looked dreadful. While attempting to no avail to smooth down my hair I first noticed my eyes. Only, they weren't my eyes. They weren't the deep brown color that I was accustomed to see starring back at me, they were gray, they were…Draco's.

Baffled beyond belief I just stood there looking at my eyes, hoping and knowing that it must only be some trick of the light. All Malfoy's had a very distinctive silvery shade of eye color. That same unusual color now just happened to be my new eyeshade? Of course that couldn't happen, I mean you just don't wake up one day and have a new eye color…do you?

I cast my gaze away from the mirror and hurried down the hall in search of another mirror, one that wouldn't lie to me like that damn looking glass that I had first seen. I came to the end of the long dark corridor and found myself looking with a subdued shock at a large dining room that without mistake belonged to Malfoy Manner.

Shaken with confusion that I wasn't familiar with I walked towards the enormous table and took a seat in the nearest chair. I was in Malfoy Manner. Now the main question weighing on my mind was only if Draco was here also.

I observed the room in a newfound interest; perhaps he was here. It would make sense if he were. I got up from the chair and walked out of the dining room and towards the stairway that had, at one time, lead to Draco's chambers. However, before I could begin my decent up the stairway someone else was coming down them.

The "someone" in question was a woman. An intriguingly attractive woman with red hair that seemed to match my own. I walked towards her in somewhat of a daze and for the first time in my life felt as if I might faint from shock, for she had deep brown eyes precisely how mine used to be. And I had seen more than enough photographs to know who she was…I was standing in front of my mother.

Unable to move another step I settled for simply standing there in a gawking type position. She came to me with a friendly smile and gave me an affectionate stroke of the cheek with a "good morning dear." I nodded weakly in response; this was not plausible in the least. My eyes saw my mother, very alive, standing right in front of me but my mind couldn't comprehend it.

She looped her arm with my own and led my back to the dining room. "I trust you are feeling better now," she asked with genuine sincerity. I nodded again which provoked her to laugh. "Are you not going to actually say anything?"

Taken aback by her teasing manner my eyes widened which most likely caused me to look extremely frightened. She bit her lip habitually before placing a caring hand to my forehead, "I don't believe that you have a fever dear. But perhaps it would be best to get you to a healer anyhow, you look positively awful…I believe that your father is heading to St. Mungo's this morning, I'll go see if he won't mind taking you."

Ignoring the fact that I was still very much past the adult age and being treated as a five-year-old a sharp anxiety pain shot through me, who was my father? Obviously in the back of my mind I was more than aware of putting the pieces together in this demented world. Malfoy Manner plus brand new gray eyes equals one Lucius Malfoy as my father.

Not to be disappointed by my logic the man in question showed up with the reappearance of my mother a few moments later. I tried to stifle my apprehension but found it difficult when faced with his knowing sneer. He looked exactly like Draco. That was something that I had always despised. It was just weird.

As I thought of Draco again for one fleeting moment I sincerely hoped and prayed that he was not here. If he were still who he normally was then that would make us brother and sister. And that is one problem that I just do not need. Even in the Wizarding World we have our limits on the whole incest thing.

"What precisely is wrong with the girl Molly?" A flash of anger immediately surged through me after being referred to as "the girl." How demeaning is that affectionate nickname?

"Nothing is wrong," I said quickly, not wanting to go with him, "I'm fine."

My mother -or at least the woman who looked exactly like her- gave a worried look before concurring with me that no healer was needed. Lucius sneered, muttered something about uselessness and left. Thank God for that last action.

Left alone once again with her I turned, trying to keep my amazement from showing. She smiled warmly at me and invited me to breakfast with her. Even with hunger being completely absent from my state of mind I readily agreed and followed her to the expensive table. I kept trying to convince myself that it was some sort of trick, that she wasn't real…but how do you talk yourself into a reality that you have been longing to change almost your entire life?

We sat in a peaceful silence and I felt content just being in her presence. It was getting harder and harder to keep the grounding thoughts of disillusion in my mind when everything about her was so right, so familiar. I can remember certain things about her from when I was a child, such as her distinct smell of lavender. Lavender was inching towards my senses throughout the meal.

Our silence came to an end when she struck up a conversation that I had little to no answer to. "Virginia dear," she began in a somewhat nervous manner, "I just want to let you know that I've noticed a change in you in the past few months…I must confess to liking it."

I responded with nothing, as I had no clue what she was talking about. This bothered me as inadequacy failed to suit me properly in any form.

Seeing that I was not going to supply her with information she continued, "I know that you've always had a close bond with your aunt, but I think you are old enough to know that it would be best if you did not indulge yourself with your fascination of her. To my knowledge you have been spending less time with her, this is wise Virginia. She lives in dangers which I dare not speak."

A close bond with my aunt? Surely she didn't mean Velena. "Why to you presume so greatly about…Velena." I held my breath for a moment waiting to see how she reacted to the name. A sigh of disappointment assured me that I was correct; she had been speaking of Velena.

"I grew up with her," my mother said without meeting my eyes, "she had a strong presence and seems to be gifted with the ability to draw others to her. You may think yourself like her, there was a time when I fancied myself to be nothing short of her clone, but you aren't like her Virginia. You are so much better than her."

"Why are you so different from her," I pressed, attempting to find out any information about this strange situation, "you are blood, are you not?"

Another sigh to my question. "I know I am far from perfect and have made many grave mistakes which I continue to pay for this very day. I am different from her because I can view the things I did wrong as mistakes; she sees nothing wrong with them. She justifies the vilest deeds and I know in my heart that you are not that way. You are a good person, just trapped behind your own icy nature."

With nothing to say I excused myself and found my way back to the room that I had woken up in. There had to be something in that room, something that would give me any kind of hint about what had happened to me and where I was. I knew I was in Malfoy Manner, but it was a different universe or something…

My eyes widened in understanding, I had read about all sorts of parallel dimensions that existed. Most were written in pure theory though, no one had been known to slip into an alternate reality…or at least, no one had come back to tell of it.

It made sense. I was in some sort of substitute world where my mother had married Lucius Malfoy instead of Arthur Weasley. But, if she had married Malfoy then that changed close to everything that I knew! If I was a Malfoy, what was Draco? Confused and suddenly very tired I made my way to the bed that I had first awoken on and shut my eyes. Why did everything always have to happen to me?


	7. Everyday Is A Winding Road

Confessions of a Villain

Chapter Seven

Everyday Is A Winding Road

I've been living in a sea of anarchy  
I've been living on coffee and nicotine  
I've been wondering if all the thing I've seen  
Were ever real, were ever really happening Sheryl Crow

Darkness and depression filled me with cynical notes of the world around me. I hated people. Most individuals I could stand to some extent, but people…no, never large groups of people. Masses of personalities clashed and created havoc, panic, and stupidity in large amounts.

For the greater part if you get a person to talk to you in seclusion, they will be polite and even pleasant. Crowds though, they are rude to a disgusting extreme and pretend that it's okay because they were just "following the crowd." So many things are wrong with that statement anyway. Who follows the crowd? Well, a follower would be the logical answer, but a follower is boring and predictable. Easily manipulated and even easier to control. I have no respect for those who live their lives through the dictation of others. It completely defeats the purpose of having a personality.

For these reasons, and a number of others, I never became a death eater. I am not a follower; I refuse to be controlled by some muggle born muggle hater. Damn walking contradiction…

I can remember the day that he came back. It affected Virginia in ways that it never should have. She shouldn't be connected to him; she had deserved her right to be free. She had earned it.

She was the first to know. She felt it, though she would never tell me what it felt like. I was with her, I saw her face lose all of it's coloring, saw her eyes widen in horror, and saw her body sink to the floor when she passed out from the energy that he stole from her.

I hated him because I knew that he could control her. He wasn't Tom, he was far more powerful. He was her blood; simple spells that my father knew by the dozen could tie her to him in ways that she could never escape.

It's funny really, how fear can so quickly turn into anger and hate. I was afraid for her when I found out exactly what he could do to her. That fear turned into hate at myself that there was nothing that I could do to protect her. Anger at her for being a follower, even if by extreme reluctance. I hated Velena and Molly for being of the Riddle descent. I was angry at everything because I had no control. Lack of control equals chaos. Chaos is unacceptable, it is a weakness.

Even having these thoughts turned to more anger because they weren't "normal" reactions. My upbringing caused me to despise and squash anything that could result in any form of, or even apparent weakness. I was a Malfoy, I had to control all around me or there would be hell to pay. And yet, look at me, trapped in some twisted funhouse maze with my childhood nemesis with no foreseen escape in the immediate future.

"Malfoy," came the irritated voice from my right, "what the hell are you thinking about? You keep making these funny 'angry' faces."

I snapped my eyes and my best glare towards Potter. "I was thinking about ways in which I could kill you and escape Azkaban."

He nodded slowly before hopping up from the floor and brushing the dust and dirt off of himself, "well could you mull over that while walking? We're kind of wasting time here."

"Walk where? Have you forgotten that this entire bloody place is nothing more than a circle?" Short-term memory that one…

He bit his lip for a moment and looked at his surroundings. "It's better to walk in a circle than to just be sitting ducks. We should keep moving, we can look for a door or passageway that can get us out of the circle feature."

Now I was even angrier, since when did Potter have good ideas? This was some sort of crime against humanity. Potter equals stupidity and self-righteousness, not logical and somewhat clever. I stood up with all the haughty grace that I could muster and contemplated briefly if hell had just frozen over.

He took the lead and I quickly walked faster to get ahead of him. I refused to follow Potter anywhere; Lord knows that he has enough groupies as it is.

"So," he continued sounding pleased with himself for finally taking charge. "We met at a split of two hallways…but why haven't we come to that split again?"

Surprise overtook me and I blurted, "I'd completely forgotten about that split," before thinking up a better comment.

"Me too," he admitted, "until just now that is."

After about another five minutes of walking and pondering the ultimate weirdness of it all the split appeared in front of us once more. We exchanged looks of equal bewilderment and apprehension.

"No way," Potter breathed. "This is just keeps moving up on my list of most creepy things that have ever happened to me."

"Really," I said in a mocking tone, "and what's number one on that list?"

Rudely ignoring my question he swirled around to glare at me. "Don't you find it just a tad bit odd that when we remembered that there was two hallways where we met we immediately found that place again? Or that I keep seeing windows and you don't see anything but the wall?"

"The passageway I find to be a very large coincidence…as for the window thing though, Potter we went over these a few times already; there was no window! Just your growing insanity."

"Whatever," he sneered in a way worthy of a Slytherin, "I know what I see and what I don't see. As for insanity though, it doesn't say too much for yours that admitted that your family is fond of portraits of naked men."

I ran his statement through my mind five times…nope; it still didn't make an inch of sense. "I would be more than happy to insult you in return if I knew just what the hell you were talking about."

"That portrait that we kept passing." In response to my blank look he flayed his arms about wildly, "the one that you said your father was fond of! It had a bloody naked man in it, don't you remember?"

"The portrait in question," I said calmly, "was some Malfoy ancestor holding up the head of a house elf with a triumphant expression on his face. I assure you he was fully clothed."

He threw an exasperated hand against his forehead, "maybe I am going insane."

I shrugged indifferently, "either way can we just keep moving…and preferably in silence if you don't mind. Your bouts of delusion are giving me a headache."

"Yeah," he countered, blatantly ignoring my request, "well maybe I'm not the one who is delusional. It could very well be you that's crazy and I'm perfectly sane."

"Possible," I allowed, "but not likely."

"You're infuriating, do you know that?"

Another shrug, "from you I would take that as a compliment."

I will never forget the moment that I found a hope for salvation in that godforsaken puzzle. The moment that a stairwell came into view was one of blissful contentment.

Potter cracked a huge smile and ran to the stairs. With a loud exclamation he called out, "these stairs go down!"

"Congratulations, Potter," I drawled as I walked slowly, "that is quite possibly the dumbest comment that I have ever heard."

He rolled his eyes and began to quickly descend down the stairs as followed in the same gracefully slow pace. When I reached the bottom Potter was no longer in sight.

I whistled menacingly as if calling out for a lost dog. Still no Potter.

The room that the stairs had led to was small; square shaped, and had no doors or any other form of exit. I turned in a slow circle once, Potter was gone and there was nowhere for him to go.

Narrowing my eyes I attempted to process some form of intelligent thought. There must be someway out if Potter wasn't here, he couldn't simply disappear. I walked to the nearest wall and placed a tentative hand on it, it was solid. I tried each of the other three walls; they were complete solid stone as well.

So he didn't walk through a wall, he didn't sink through the floor, and it was extremely doubtful that he had leapt through the ceiling.

I shrugged and decided that I didn't care; if he wanted to play bloody hide-n-go-seek then he could play with his imaginary friends. I was getting ready to turn and ascend back up the staircase when I heard a voice behind me that sent chills down my spine.

"Hello, Draco dear, you really do look more like your father with every passing year."

I turned with a slow reluctance and felt my knees buckle with dread and surprise. "Fortunately I can tell you that with each passing year Virginia looks absolutely nothing like you."

She smiled and walked towards me. Upon reaching me she grasped my arm and I felt her long nail draw blood. "How is my traitorous niece?"

"Alive."

"How very unfortunate."

I took a step back and felt dizzy with these incomprehensible circumstances. Velena was here instead of Potter…how very odd.


End file.
